What is the Sacred Name Movement?

Answer

Related to the Hebrew Roots Movement, the Sacred Name Movement originated from the Church of God (Seventh Day) in the 1930s. Allegedly, the movement commenced as a response to the exploration of Proverbs 30:4, “What is his name, and what is the name of his son?” The Sacred Name Movement advocates for the exclusive use of “Yahweh” as the name for God and “Yahshua” as the name for Jesus. According to this movement, any other name’s usage is considered blasphemy.

Apart from strongly promoting the use of the original Hebrew names for God and Jesus, the Sacred Name Movement also instructs that followers of Yeshua must adhere to the Old Testament Law, particularly the directives concerning the seventh-day Sabbath, the kosher dietary laws, and the Jewish celebrations.

Various factions have emerged from the original Sacred Name Movement, such as the Assemblies of Yahweh, the Assembly of Yahweh, the House of Yahweh, and Yahweh’s Restoration Ministry.

The Sacred Name Movement is mistaken in numerous aspects. However, its primary fallacy aligns with that of the Hebrew Roots Movement. The Sacred Name Movement fails to grasp that the Savior did not come to extend Judaism or the Old Covenant but to fulfill the Old Covenant and institute the New Covenant. The death and resurrection of the Messiah satisfied the Law’s requirements and liberated us from its obligations (Romans 10:4;Galatians 3:23-25;Ephesians 2:15). The Old Covenant merely foreshadowed (Hebrews 8). The New Covenant, established by our Savior/Messiah, represents a fulfillment, not a continuation.

The specific emphasis of the Sacred Name Movement on the names of God and Jesus lacks biblical support. The human authors of the Old and New Testaments, inspired by the Holy Spirit, did not hesitate to refer to God as Elohim (Hebrew) and The

Is it biblically appropriate to use generic terms to refer to God and a Greek version of Jesus’ name, why is it incorrect, in English, to refer to the Heavenly Father as “God” and the Messiah as “Jesus”? Why would it be incorrect to use the Chinese, Spanish, or Russian pronunciation and spelling of those names and titles?

Moreover, not even the followers of the Sacred Name Movement can fully agree on what the sacred names actually are. While “Yahweh” and “Yahshua” are the most common, some suggest “Yahvah,” “Yahwah,” “Yohwah,” or “Yahowah” for God and “Yeshua” or “Yahoshua” for Jesus. If there is only one non-blasphemous name for God and Jesus, we must ensure to get it right. Yet followers of the Sacred Name Movement cannot even agree on the fundamental essence of what their movement is meant to represent.

The Sacred Name Movement began with an unbiblical premise and has continued by constructing unbiblical doctrines on top of that premise. Our salvation does not rely on our ability to correctly pronounce God’s name in Hebrew. Our relationship with God is not founded on our obedience to the Old Covenant that our Messiah perfectly fulfilled. Our relationship with God is based on the salvation He has provided through His Son, the Savior-Messiah; and that relationship is entered into by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.